WHETHER OR NOT THE EXCLUSION OF PEOPLE WHO COMMITTED HEINOUS CRIME IS PROPER.

May it please the court, good morning. I am Fatima Saquilayan and I stand before your excellencies to
submit that the exclusion of convicts who committed heinous crime is proper and does not run counter
to the reformative justice system that our laws had and is faithfully upholding.

The recent passage of RA 10592 or known as the Good Conduct Time Allowance Law had stirred multiple
opinions from different sectors of society for it having been silent whether or not heinous crimes should
also be given the benefit of such law. The recent amendments of the Implementing Rules and Regulations
of RA 10592 had specifically stated the following, to wit:

1. Recidivists, habitual delinquents, escapees, those charged with heinous crimes and an accused who,
upon being summoned for the execution of his sentence has failed to surrender voluntarily before a
court of law, are excluded from good conduct time allowance under RA 10592 (Section 2, Rule IV)

2. Prisoners disqualified under RA 10592, such as heinous crime convicts, but who were convicted
before the law became effective in 2013 shall be entitled to good conduct time allowance under the
Revised Penal Code (2nd paragraph, Section 1, Rule XIII)

3. Prisoners disqualified under RA 10592, such as heinous crime convicts, and who were convicted after
the law became effective in 2013, shall not be entitled to any type of good conduct time allowance (3rd
paragraph, Section 1, Rule XIII)

If I may reiterate, heinous crime is defined as “grievous, odious and hateful offenses and which, by reason
of their inherent or manifest wickedness, viciousness, atrocity and perversity are repugnant and
outrageous to the common standards and norms of decency and morality in a just, civilized and ordered
society.” With this being said, the intent of the law remains- that heinous crimes was and will always be
separate from the other crimes punished by law, and for this to be considered as a beneficiary of the GCTA
or the good conduct time allowance just like any other crimes, would be the same as putting them in the
same category as of the others, giving all crimes no distinction which is not the intention of the law.

Does this mean that the said law affords no benefit to those who committed heinous crimes at all? The
answer is no. It was provided in the IRR that those who where convicted of heinous crimes before the law
became effective in 2013 shall be entitled to good conduct time allowance. Making the application of the
law in line with its legitimate purpose and is not arbitrarily applied.

I cede the remainder of my time for rebuttal.